By December 2024, all landfills and dhalaos – the three-sided open enclosures where sanitation workers consolidate daily waste before it is hauled away to landfills – were supposed to be closed down in Delhi.

That hasn’t happened.

According to information submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in July 2025, there were 1,494 dhalaos in Delhi. While 985 have been closed “and put to alternate use in public interest,” more than 500 remain operational. MCD........

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